The present invention relates to interactive behavioral training techniques for remediating schizophrenia. More specifically, the present invention relates to perceptual and cognitive training techniques for remediating schizophrenia, either prophylactically prior to the onset of clinically observable schizophrenic behaviors or after the development of schizophrenia symptoms in a person.
Evidence suggests that about 1 in 100 individuals is schizophrenic and about 1 in 25 individuals is "at-risk" for schizophrenia onset. Schizophrenia is generally regarded as one of the most devastating of the common forms of mental illness. It generally arises in young adults between about 16 and 30 years of age. Most individuals that develop the illness have behavioral characteristics that identify them as "at risk" for schizophrenia onset from early childhood.
Risk is contributed to by inherited factors. At the same time, there is a long history of studies that indicates that onset of the "illness" is modulated by the behavioral experiences of at-risk individuals. Even in the case of identical twins, less than half of their genetically identical siblings develop the illness. At the same time, given underlying genetic factors contributing to the risk of onset of the illness, the historical occurrence of schizophrenia in a family is one simple way of defining "at risk" status for young adults.
The illness generally arises progressively through a period of increasingly abnormal behaviors that may be identified over a prodromal epoch that is several weeks to many months in duration. Commonly beginning with a feeling that "things just don't seem (look, feel, sound) right," it ultimately progresses to the emergence of uncontrolled delusions and hallucinations that are a hallmark of the full-blown illness.
Because the causes of schizophrenia are not fully understood, contemporary schizophrenia treatment typically consists of antipsychotic medications (i.e., neuroleptics) that are chosen on the basis of their ability to reduce schizophrenic symptoms and/or lessen the chances that symptoms will return. By way of example, conventional neuroleptics such as haloperidol, chloropromazine, or thioridazine have long been employed for controlling acute schizophrenic symptoms and for improving the functioning of people with schizophrenia, thereby reducing the need for hospitalization.
Although the use of antipsychotic medications have proven effective for controlling certain schizophrenic symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, paranoia, delusions), there are disadvantages to the pharmacological-based approach. By way of example, it is known that certain antipsychotic medications are not effective, for reasons unknown, on some subjects. Even when a medication is found to be effective for a particular patient, the prolonged use of an antipsychotic medication may give rise to unwanted side effects, such as dependency, drowsiness, restlessness, muscle spasms, tremor, dry mouth, and/or blurring of vision. Still further, it is believed that one of the long term side effects of antipsychotic drugs is the development of tarditive dyskinesia (TD). TD is a disorder typically characterized by involuntary movements most often affecting the mouth, lips, and tongue and sometimes the trunk or other parts of the body. Still further, antipsychotic drugs do not effectively ameliorate negative symptoms of schizophrenia in most patients, e.g., they do not restore normal speech reception abilities, long term memory abilities, or many other related cognitive deficits that limit a patient's potential and achievement.
In view of the foregoing, there are desired therapeutic techniques that can remediate schizophrenia or prevent its onset without introducing unwanted side effects. In particular, there are desired schizophrenia treatments, prophylactic or otherwise, that do not require or that reduce the need for antipsychotic medication.